Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Fain |
FainAdjective1. Having made preparations; "prepared to take risks". Adverb1. In a willing manner; "this was gladly agreed to"; "I would fain do it". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "fain" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Synonyms: FainSynonyms: disposed(p) (adj), inclined(p) (adj), prepared (adj), gladly (adv), lief (adv). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Compulsion | Forcible, not to be trifled with; irresistible; compelled; Verb: fain to. |
Desire | Want, miss, need, feel the want of, would fain have, would fain do; would be glad of. |
Adverb: wistfully; Adjective: fain. | |
Adjective: desirous; desiring; Verb: inclined; (willing); partial to; fain, wishful, optative; anxious, wistful, curious; at a loss for, sedulous, solicitous. craving, hungry, sharp-set, peckish, ravening, with an empty stomach, esurient, lickerish, thirsty, athirst, parched with thirst, pinched with hunger, famished, dry, drouthy; hungry as a hunter, hungry as a hawk, hungry as a horse, hungry as a church mouse, hungry as a bear. | |
Fear | A dagger of the mind ; expertus metuit; " fain would I climb but that I fear to fall"; " fear is the parent of cruelty "; " Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire "; omnia tuta timens; " our fears do make us traitors " |
Willingness | Adverb: willingly; Adjective: fain, freely, as lief, heart and soul; with pleasure, with all one's heart, with open arms; with good will, with right will; de bonne volonte, ex animo; con amore, heart in hand, nothing loth, without reluctance, of one's own accord, graciously, with a good grace. |
Adjective: willing, minded, fain, disposed, inclined, favorable; favorably-minded, favorably inclined, favorably disposed; nothing loth; in the vein, in the mood, in the humor, in the mind. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Fain |
| English words defined with "fain": Fawe ♦ gladly ♦ lief. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "fain": INGRATE ♦ Rhodian Bully ♦ sycophant ♦ Yesterday. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "fain": Fawe. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Fain" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses. Romanian (capital, grand). |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | But when mistake or flattery prevailed with weak princes to make use of this power for private ends of their own, and not for the public good, the people were fain by express laws to get prerogative determined in those points wherein they found disadvantage from it: and thus declared limitations of prerogative were by the people found necessary in cases which they and their ancestors had left, in the utmost latitude, to the wisdom of those princes who made no other but a right use of it, that is, for the good of their people. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
A Christmas Carol | Dickens, Charles | The yard was so dark that even Scrooge, who knew its every stone, was fain to grope with his hands. |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | The tender Prince Would fain have come with me to meet your Grace, But by his mother was perforce withheld. |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | As I walked on the railroad causeway, I used to wonder at the halo of light around my shadow, and would fain fancy myself one of the elect. |
The Tempest | William Shakespeare | The wills above be done! but I would fain die a dry death. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SYCOPHANT, n. One who approaches Greatness on his belly so that he may not be commanded to turn and be kicked. He is sometimes an editor. As the lean leech, its victim found, is pleased To fix itself upon a part diseased Till, its black hide distended with bad blood, It drops to die of surfeit in the mud, So the base sycophant with joy descries His neighbor's weak spot and his mouth applies, Gorges and prospers like the leech, although, Unlike that reptile, he will not let go. Gelasma, if it paid you to devote Your talent to the service of a goat, Showing by forceful logic that its beard Is more than Aaron's fit to be revered; If to the task of honoring its smell Profit had prompted you, and love as well, The world would benefit at last by you And wealthy malefactors weep anew -- Your favor for a moment's space denied And to the nobler object turned aside. Is't not enough that thrifty millionaires Who loot in freight and spoliate in fares, Or, cursed with consciences that bid them fly To safer villainies of darker dye, Forswearing robbery and fain, instead, To steal (they call it "cornering") our bread May see you groveling their boots to lick And begging for the favor of a kick? Still must you follow to the bitter end Your sycophantic disposition's trend, And in your eagerness to please the rich Hunt hungry sinners to their final ditch? In Morgan's praise you smite the sounding wire, And sing hosannas to great Havemeyher! What's Satan done that him you should eschew? He too is reeking rich -- deducting you. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Fain" is generally used as an adverb (general) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Fain" is used about 12 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adverb (general) | 100% | 12 | 101,599 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "fain" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Fain | Last name | 4,000 | 3,469 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "fain": fain i! ♦ fain to ♦ would fain do. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "fain": fain-es. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
fain | 17 |
fain troy | 8 |
fain johnson | 6 |
sammy fain | 6 |
fain insurance troy | 5 |
fain genealogy | 4 |
baba fain | 4 |
ferris fain | 3 |
bobby fain | 3 |
fain holley | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "fain"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | me dashje (by design, conscious, consciously, knowingly, on purpose, prepense, purposefully, purposely, voluntary, wittingly), me dëshirë (nothing loath, readily), i gatshëm (agreeable, available, content, fit, forthcoming, forward, game, glad, inclined, off the peg, predisposed, prepared, ready, ready made, ready to wear, ready-for-service, willing, wishful), i dëshiruar (anxious, avid, longing, wishful, wistful). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | охотно (heartily, kindly, readily, willingly). (various references) | |
Czech | spokojený (complacent, content, contented, glad, happy, pleased, satisfied). (various references) | |
German | gern (fein, gladly, readily, surely, willingly, with pleasure). (various references) | |
Greek | με χαρά, προθυμώσ (liege, promptly, readily, willingly). (various references) | |
Hungarian | készségesen (accommodatingly, readily, willingly). (various references) | |
Italian | volentieri (gladly, kindly, lief, willingly), soddisfatto (content, contented, pleased, satisfied), contento (cheerful, content, contented, glad, happy, pleased, satisfied). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ainfay.(various references) | |
Romanian | obligat sã (liable to), gata sã (within an ace of), dispus sã (agreeable to, forward), cu dragã inimã (gladly), bucuros (beatific, beatifical, cheerful, content, delighted, exhilarated, gay, glad, gladly, gratified, lief, merry, mirthful, pleased, readily, thankful, willingly, with a good grace). (various references) | |
Russian | охотно (eagerly, gladly, heartily, nothing loath, readily, willingly). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | rado (gladly, willingly), prinuđen (coercible, constrained), drage volje. (various references) | |
Swedish | gärna (as well, freely, gladly, in a hurry, often, readily, usually, voluntary, willing, willingly, with pleasure). (various references) | |
Thai | "้วยความยิน"ี. (various references) | |
Turkish | memnuniyetle (gladly, lief, nothing loath, nothing loth, with open arms, with pleasure), mecburen (coerciblely, compulsorily, forcedly, needs must). (various references) | |
Ukranian | змушений (obliged). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | vui lòng (fains, fens, glad, minded), đ nh bằng lòng (fains, fens), đ nh đ"ng ý (fains, fens). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Luke Chapter 15, Verse 16 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai epequmei gemisai thn koilian autou apo twn keratiwn wn hsqion oi coiroi kai oudeiV edidou autw |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et cupiebat implere ventrem suum de siliquis quas porci manducabant et nemo illi dabat |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | þa gewilnode he his wambe gefyllan of þam biencoddun þe ða swyn æton. and him man ne sealde; |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And he coueitide to fille his wombe of the coddis that the hoggis eeten, and no man yaf hym. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And he wold fayne have filled his bely with the coddes that ye swyne ate: and noo man gave him. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat; and no man gave to him. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And so great was his need that he would have been glad to take the pigs' food, and no one gave him anything. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Luke Chapter 15, Verse 16 |
| Bulgarian | И желаеше да се насити с рошковите, от които ядяха свините; но никой не му даваше. |
| Cebuano | Ug siya nangandoy sa pagbusog sa iyang kaugalingon bisan pa sa mga bunga sa biya-tilis nga ginakaon sa mga baboy; ug walay tawo nga mihatag kaniyag bisan unsa. |
| Chinese | 他 恨 不 得 拿 豬 所 喫 的 豆 莢 充 飢 ． 也 ' 有 人 給 他 。 |
| Croatian | Želio se nasititi rogaèima što su ih jele svinje, ali mu ih nitko nije davao." |
| Danish | Og han attråede at fylde sin Bug med de Bønner, som Svinene åde; og ingen gav ham noget. |
| Dutch | En hij begeerde zijn buik te vullen met den draf, dien de zwijnen aten; en niemand gaf hem dien. |
| Finnish | Ja hän halusi täyttää vatsansa niillä palkohedelmillä, joita siat söivät, mutta niitäkään ei kukaan hänelle antanut. |
| French | Il aurait bien voulu se rassasier des carouges que mangeaient les pourceaux, mais personne ne lui en donnait. |
| German | Und er begehrte seinen Bauch zu füllen mit Trebern, die die Säue aßen; und niemand gab sie ihm. |
| Haitian Creole | Lè sa a, li ta byen renmen plen vant li ak sa kochon yo t'ap manje a, men pesonn pa t' ba li. |
| Hungarian | És kívánja vala megtölteni az õ gyomrát azzal a moslékkal, a mit a disznók ettek; és senki sem ád vala néki. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Ia begitu lapar sehingga ingin mengisi perutnya dengan makanan babi-babi itu. Walaupun ia begitu lapar, tidak seorang pun memberi makanan kepadanya. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka inginlah ia akan mengisi perutnya dengan hampas kulit, makanan babi, tetapi tiada seorang pun memberikan kepadanya. |
| Italian | Avrebbe voluto saziarsi con le carrube che mangiavano i porci; ma nessuno gliene dava. |
| Korean | 가 돼 지 먹 " 쥐 엄 열 매 로 배 을 채 우 자 하 되 주 " 자 가 없 " 지 라 |
| Latvian | Un viòð gribçja piepildît savu vçderu sçnalâm, ko cûkas çda, bet neviens tam tâs nedeva. |
| Manx Gaelic | As by-vian lesh e volg y lhieeney lesh ny bleaystyn va ny muckyn dy ee: as cha row dooinney erbee hug cooney da. |
| Maori | I hiahia hoki ia kia whakakiia tona kopu ki nga kiri e kainga ana e nga poaka: heoi kihai i hoatu e tetahi ki a ia. |
| Modern Greek | Και επεθυμει να γεμιση την κοιλιαν αυτου απο των ξυλοκερατων, τα οποια ετρωγον οι χοιροι, και ουδεις εδιδεν εις αυτον. |
| Norwegian | og hans attrå var å fylle sin buk med de skolmer som svinene åt, og ingen gav ham noget. |
| Portuguese | E desejava encher o estômago com as alfarrobas que os porcos comiam; e ninguém lhe dava nada. |
| Rumanian | Mult ar fi dorit el sq se sature cu rowcovele, pe cari le mkncau porcii, dar nu i le da nimeni. |
| Russian | Й ПО ТБ" 'ЩМ ОБ ПМОЙФШ ЮТЕЧП УЧПЕ ТПЦЛБНЙ, ЛПФПТЩЕ ЕМЙ УЧЙОШЙ, ОП ОЙЛФП ОЕ "БЧБМ ЕНХ. |
| Shuar | Uchi ti tsukamak kuchi ukatramun niisha Yuátajtsa ti wakerimiai. Túrasha penké Súcharmai. |
| Spanish | Y él deseaba saciarse con las algarrobas que comían los cerdos, y nadie se las daba. |
| Swahili | Alitamani kula maganda waliyokula wale nguruwe, ila hakuna mtu aliyempa kitu. |
| Swedish | Och han åstundade att få fylla sin buk med de fröskidor som svinen åto; men ingen gav honom något. |
| Thai | เขาใคร่จะไ"้อิ่มท้อง"้วยฝักถั่วที่หมูกินนั้น แต่ไม่มีใครให้อะไรเขากิน |
| Ukrainian | І бажав він наповнити шлунка свого хоч стручками, що їли їх свині, та ніхто не давав їх йому. |
| Uma | Ngkai kamo'oro' -na, mehina-imi-hawo doko' mpokoni' kano wawu. Hiaa' uma hema to mpowai' -i pongkoni'. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "fain": faineant, faineants, fainer, fainest, faint, fainted, fainter, fainters, faintest, fainthearted, faintheartedly, faintheartedness, faintheartednesses, fainting, faintish, faintishness, faintishnesses, faintly, faintness, faintnesses, faints. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "fain" (pronounced fā"n) |
| 3 | f ā" n | Fane, feign, profane. |
| 2 | -ā" n | abstain, alane, arcane, arraign, ascertain, attain, bane, blain, brain, butane, Cain, campaign, cane, chain, champagne, Champaign, cocaine, complain, constrain, contain, crane, delaine, detain, disdain, domain, drain, entertain, explain, gain, germane, grain, humane, inane, ingrain, inhumane, insane, Jane, kain, Kane, lain, Lane, legerdemain, main, maintain, mane, moraine, mundane, obtain, ordain, overtrain, pain, pane, pertain, plain, plane, preordain, rain, refrain, regain, reign, rein, remain, restrain, retain, retrain, Romaine, sain, sane, slain, sprain, stain, strain, sustain, Swain, terrain, Thane, train, twain, urbane, vain, vane, vein, wain, wane. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: naif. | |
| Words within the letters "a-f-i-n" | |
-1 letter: ain, ani, fan, fin. | |
-2 letters: ai, an, fa, if, in, na. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-f-i-n" | |
+1 letter: fagin, faint, final, infra, naifs. | |
+2 letters: affine, facing, fadein, fading, fagins, fainer, faints, faking, famine, faming, fanion, farina, faring, fating, faxing, faying, fazing, fiance, finale, finals, finial, firman, flavin, funkia, fusain, infall, infamy, infant, infare, nazify, unfair. | |
+3 letters: affiant, affinal, affined, affines, afghani, antefix, antifat, antiflu, antifur, baffing, barfing, caffein, carnify, chafing, daffing, damnify, dandify, defiant, fabling, faciend, facings, faction, fadeins, fadging, fadings, fagging, faience, failing, fainest, fainted, fainter, faintly, fairing, falling, famines, fanatic, fancied, fancier, fancies, fancify, fancily, fanions, fanlike, fannies, fanning, fantail, fanwise, fanzine, farcing, farding, farinas, farinha, farming, farting, fascine, fashing, fashion, fasting, fatling, fatting, fawnier, fawning, fearing, feasing, feazing, fiancee, fiances, finable, finagle, finales, finalis, finally, finance, finback, finials, finical, finmark, fireman, firepan, firmans, flaking, flaming, flaring, flavine, flavins, flawing, flaying, foaling, foaming, folacin, fontina, framing, frantic, fraying, funfair, funkias, fusains, fustian, gaffing, gainful, hafnium, hafting, indraft, infalls, infancy, infanta, infante, infants, infarct, infares, infauna, inflame, inflate, infract, ingraft, insofar, leafing, liftman, loafing, magnify, painful, panfish, rafting, ratfink, refrain, ruffian, tailfan, tiffany, unfaith, uniface, waffing, wafting, waifing, yaffing. | |
+4 letters: affiance, affiants, affinely, affinity, affixing, affusion, afghanis, alfaquin, ammonify, antefixa, antifoam, antileft, antilife, avifauna, baffling, basinful, blackfin, boniface, caffeine, caffeins, calfskin, canfield, chaffing, crafting, dandriff, defacing, defaming, defiance, denazify, drafting, dwarfing, effacing, enfacing, enfilade, epifauna, faceting, faciends, factions, fagoting, faiences, failings, faineant, fainters, faintest, fainting, faintish, fairings, fairness, faithing, falchion, fanatics, fanciers, fanciest, fanciful, fancying, fanglike, fanlight, fantails, fantasia, fantasie, fanzines, farinhas, farinose, farmings, farthing, fascines, fashions, fastings, fatlings, faulting, faunlike, favonian, favoring, fawniest, fawnlike, feasting, fellahin, feminacy, fetation, fiancees, fibranne, figurant, filament, filarian, filename, filmland, finagled, finagler, finagles, finalise, finalism, finalist, finality, finalize, financed, finances, finbacks, findable, fineable, finialed, finmarks, finnmark, firefang, firepans, fixating, fixation, flacking, flagging, flailing, flamines, flamingo, flamming, flanerie, flanging, flanking, flapping, flashing, flatiron, flatline, flatling, flatting, flavines, flippant, floating, foilsman, folacins, fontinas, foraging, foramina, foraying, formalin, fornical, fountain, fraction, fragging, framings, francium, franking, franklin, frapping, fraulein, frayings, freaking, fricando, fumigant, funfairs, fustians, grafting, hafniums, hangfire, hawfinch, indrafts, infamies, infamous, infantas, infantes, infantry, infarcts, infaunae, infaunal, infaunas, infernal, inflamed, inflamer, inflames, inflated, inflater, inflates, inflator, informal, infracts, infrared, infrugal, ingrafts, janiform, landfill, magnific, manifest, manifold, nailfold, napiform, nazified, nazifies, nonfinal, panfried, panfries, paraffin, piaffing, pinafore, quaffing, quantify, raffling, rainfall, ratfinks, refacing, refrains, rifampin, rifleman, ruffians, safranin, sainfoin, sanctify, sandfish, sanserif, saponify, scarfing, scarfpin, shafting, sheafing, shinleaf, sinfonia, snafuing, staffing, strafing, tailfans, trainful, transfix, unafraid, unfading, unfairer, unfairly, unfaiths, unfilial, unifaces, unifilar, vinifera, wafering, waffling, warfarin, wharfing, windfall, windflaw. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)46 61 69 6E |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)..-. .- .. -. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000110 01100001 01101001 01101110 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)F a i n |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0046 0061 0069 006E |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)40677580 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Historic 6. Quotations: Fiction 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Names: Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Bible Trace 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Orthography 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
